Don't Think Of Me
by Fearless-Temptation
Summary: What if Fry eventually gave up his love for Leela, and they would keep on with their lives normally? That was what Leela expected things to be, but not until she finds out that Fry will be married to someone else. Will she be able to bear the jealousy and regret for the rest of her life? Inspired by The Late Philip J. Fry, but in a lot more emotional story.
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1**

"Hey guys, there's something going on the television!"

The exciting voice of the metallic robot spread around the Planet Express building. Fry, Leela, Amy and the rest of the crew, except the Professor, quickly ran towards the living room like if it was almost their own instinct calling them. The red-haired boy picked up the remote control, pressing the 'switch on' button as a coloured screen finally showed up.

"Next, another planet got destroyed by alien invasion in a faraway galaxy. We have no information concerning the name of the unknown planet or even the alien race who conquered it, but scientists affirm that the planet Earth is safe and not included in their list. Morbo?"

"Morbo will still get a way to make his people take over your tiny planet!" He shouted at the camera, and the blonde lady laughed, like usual.

"If those so-called aliens even dared to take over my planet, they should take over my shiny metal ass instead." Bender sneered, smoking a cigar with his arms behind his head.

"Bender, is there anything you don't joke about?" Leela spoke, glaring at him.

"Hmm... nope."

"These things can be more serious than they seem, you know."

"Why should I care, I'm Bender." He insisted. "If I survived more than a thousand of years living in complete sand and without alcohol, I'm pretty sure I'll survive another fake apocalypse."

"True that." Amy said.

"It's no use to change your attitude anyway..." Leela sighed as she folded her arms.

Fry noticed the upset expression on Leela's face. She has been a little more stressful due to her recent failed date with some professional guy, so he tried to avoid his constant obsession of asking her out lately. But, due to his childish nature, he couldn't keep it to himself anymore.

"Hey, Leela."

"Yes?" She turned her face at his, now in her normal expression.

"Would you..." Fry slightly rubbed his orange hair, a bit embarrassed. "You know, to go out with me sometime-"

"I'm sorry Fry, but you're just not my type." That was her millionth time response. "And no offense, either, but you already asked me that on Friday."

"But that was from the past week!" He urged. "And five seconds before you presented me that so-called lawyer boyfriend of yours."

Leela placed her arm on his shoulder. "Fry, you're a very sweet guy, but that main personality flaw you have is what keeps me away from dating you." She confessed. "Please understand."

He sighed in utter hopelessness, turning his eyes away from her. "I understand..."

"Good news, everyone!" The Professor exclaimed out of the nothing, approaching the crew with a giant toothpaste and toothbrush on the moving cart. "We have a delivery for Omicron Persei 8!"

"Why would Lrrr want something so big?" Amy asked, surprised.

"Because I lied to him about the prices." The Professor explained. "You see, I told him that the larger sizes would be cheaper, while in reality the smaller ones were cheaper and the larger ones more expensive." He laughed. "What a dumb ruler, may I add- huh I mean, don't tell him what I just said! Keep your mouths shut."

"Hooray! Another intergalactic ride for Dr. Zoidberg!" He shouted in excitement, clapping his claws.

"You?" Hermes chuckled. "Like if we need a lobster to come on board. Now go back to your office!" He ordered.

"Oh..." Unhappy, Zoidberg groaned as he walked away from the living room in sideways.

"What are you waiting for?" The Professor placed his hands on his almost non-existent hips, glaring at the crew. "Fry, Leela, Bender, get your lazy butts off the couch and go send this package right away!" He finished as he slowly walked towards a table to read some scientific magazine. "Oh, and don't kill yourselves, or else I'll steal your organs."

"But I don't have organs." Bender shrugged.

"I said go!" He yelled.

Since they didn't have a choice, Leela lifted up from the couch and picked up her keys, leaving with Bender in direction to the spaceship until she noticed that Fry was still sitting on the couch, discouraged. She realized what he was feeling, but she had more important things to do than comforting him.

"Hey Fry, you coming?" Leela asked.

Turning abruptly his face at hers, Fry eventually woke up into reality, still with a sad look that could've been seen through his eyes. "Oh, right. I'm coming." And he raised up and followed her.

* * *

During the travel in direction to Omicron Persei 8, Fry spent his time glancing through the window, watching the distant stars and planets appearing and disappearing one after another, quietly sighing to himself. Like if it wasn't a surprise, Bender was drinking and smoking a cigar at the same time, bursting fire from his own mouth as his best friend was still absent-minded from something.

"Bender!" Leela exclaimed, turning her eye at him for a second. "Don't you know the word _moderation_?"

"In my 'benderictionary'... no."

"Oh, so I assume that the word which has more meaning is 'ass'." She sneered.

"Yeah, you're correct. That and 'daffodil', but to be honest I don't remember using that word that much." He remarked.

"I'm gonna die alone..." Fry avowed in low voice, but Bender heard him in the first second he spoke.

"What's wrong, meatbag?" Bender asked. "You seem more depressed than that day when you had to turn off a robot version of Lucy Liu."

"It's nothing." He persisted.

"Oh let me guess, is it because you have been asking Leela out for thirteen years in a row?" He tried to guess, but Fry wasn't really in his good mood as he turned his eyes at him.

"Bender!"

"What?" He released another huge cloud of smoke. "I'm always right."

"Listen, this relationship between me and Leela have nothing to do with you." He folded his arms, but his anger quickly vanished. "However, I'm feeling pretty lonely right now..." He finished his sentence as he sat on the floor. Bender also sat next to him and put a robotic hand on his shoulder.

"There there, I know there's something you despairingly want to tell to your best friend." Bender comforted, but that was because he was dying to hear his intimate secrets and the fact that he was trying to steal his wallet from his pocket.

"It's nothing new, really." Fry affirmed. "It's just... I'm almost forty years old, and I still haven't found the girl of my dreams yet. I really want to conquer Leela's heart, but for some reason she always denies me, like if I'm a kind of unwelcome outsider whom she thinks I'm not worth to go out with her."

"Go on..." He urged.

"But now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I should keep pushing her mind to do something that she will never be interested to do so." He continued. "And I've dated a _lot_ of girls who were never really interested in me, so I was hopeful that Leela would see the best part of me... but maybe she isn't the one I'm looking for after all."

"Fry, you should've seen that one coming ever since you two met each other." Bender said, wrapping his arm around his neck. "Because if she is not interested in you, move on with your life and find other several girlfriends to keep you busy! Why do you think I always go to strip clubs, drink all day and invite sexy fembots to a dinner at Elzar's? Because that is what life is! To enjoy at your fullest and stop wasting your time on love dramas, you crybaby."

Fry reconsidered his thoughts, taking a moment of silence for an entire minute. Thankfully, Leela wasn't paying much attention to their conversation, once she was more focused on driving the ship than anything else.

"Thanks, Bender." The grown up red-haired boy smiled.

"Anything for my friend." He smiled as well, before he quickly turned his back to count the dollars he removed from Fry's wallet. "Heh heh, twenty bucks."

"Okay guys," Leela finally spoke. "We have reached Omicron Persei 8. Are you ready to land?"

"Duh." Bender gave her that 'obviously' expression.

"Very well. Oh, and Fry."

He looked at her with a brief smile.

"Yes?"

"Please keep quiet during the delivery. Last time we went with you, you apparently said something insulting to Lrrr and we had to face the nasty consequences." She reported. "Understood?"

"Yeah, so keep your meaty lips closed!" Bender ordered.

Again, it wasn't what he expected from her; disappointed, Fry turned his face away from them, leaning next to a wall with his hands in his pockets, waiting to be finally landed on that stupid, ordinary planet.

"Yes, captain."


	2. Night Gone Wrong

**Chapter 2**

After the successful delivery of the giant package to Omicron Persei 8, the Planet Express ship returned safely to Earth as it landed into the building without crashing. It was already night, and the three members were weary than ever due to the long space ride. With no bruises or almost killed to death by homicide attempts from the Omicronians, Leela and Bender were the first ones to leave the spaceship, utterly glad that the mission didn't go near as wrong as the last time. Fry did come along, too, but he was pretty less talkative that day.

"Man, I'm tired." Bender avowed, stretching his arms upward. "Well, I'm going to invite some hooker and have fun with her tonight. See you all tomorrow, suckers!" He laughed one last time before he left the place.

Nibbler, Leela's adorable Nibblonian pet, was standing right in front of her, glancing at her with a static yet curious expression. The female captain, who obviously couldn't resist her own pet's cuteness, knelt down and picked him up, giving tickles on his pale yellow belly.

"Aww, you really missed mommy, didn't you?" Leela remarked in a kind of cute voice. "Yes, yes you did." She continued on giving him more tickles, which Nibbler couldn't resist but making those weird, tiny noises he was used to do whenever he was enjoying something.

"(Even Nibbler receives more love than I do...)" Fry thought. After he let out a quick, weak sigh that came off from his nose, Leela turned her head at him, noticing that he was somewhat too quiet at that moment.

"Fry, are you all right?" She asked, frowning her brow in worry.

"I'm okay, Leela." He answered in an encouraging voice to cover his letdown. "I'm just... kinda sleepy, I guess."

"I understand." Leela added. "It's already midnight, and I'm tired, too. I think it's better to go home to recover our energies for tomorrow."

"Yeah..."

Trying to make him feel better, Leela walked until Fry and kissed his cheek, leaving with an honest smile pasted on her face.

"Do you want me to accompany you until the entrance?" She offered.

"No, thanks. I'm going to stay here for a little while." Fry said, gazing carefully at the starry sky.

"If you say so." Leela slightly shrugged, turning her back to eventually return to her apartment. But, an instant before doing so, she forgot to tell him something.

"Good night, Fry."

The red-haired delivery boy looked at her, smiling for a bit to change the airs.

"Good night, Leela."

And then she left with her alien pet in her arms, believing that her friend was going to be fine for having a moment all by himself, alone in that dark, empty large building.

* * *

Walking on foot, Fry eventually arrived to his apartment. It was five past 1 AM, and despite the fact that he was a bit weary, he couldn't lie on his bed and fall asleep. He tried to watch TV so that he could find some boring show to distract his meaningless thoughts, but all he found were chick flick related movies in every single channel. God, didn't those make him sick to the stomach; he hated chick flicks, mainly because they were overdramatic and too uninteresting for a boy of his age to even watch the first five minutes. But, again, wasn't _he_ being overdramatic as well? He tried to impress a girl he was used to work with for thirteen years, and she still haven't told him that she loved him back. Perhaps, Bender was right; if he wasn't so naive, maybe he should've realized earlier that he and Leela were nothing more than just friends. Close friends, that is.

"She even gives Zapp more credit than I." Fry remarked to the puppet. "And that idiot only cares for her body..."

His room was in an absolute mess. Magazines, video games, beer cans, everything spread all around the place, with the floor needing to be washed for over a year and the walls being a bit dirty due to the humidity and the parties he has done with Bender. Fry knew he wasn't very hygienic and extremely lazy, but that didn't make him into a repulsive person, although he recalled once again that Leela hated dirty places and lazy people who do nothing.

"Another chick flick..." Fry complained, pressing systematically the 'next' button to keep searching for more shows that didn't contain any romantic films. With no such luck, he took a deep breath, picked up a photo of him and Leela being together in some event, and scanned it closely.

"Am I really that bad?" He questioned. "I may not be the smartest thing alive, or being a little too dumb for that matter, but at least I have a good heart. And all the men Leela has dated were intelligent and yet with worse flaws than mine." He drank another can of beer. "I don't understand this..."

Fry quit on clicking the button, and the TV show _All My Circuits_ was on. Once he hadn't anything better to do, the delivery boy saved the picture under his pillow, and went to the fridge to pick up a huge bottle of ice cream. As he soon sat on his bed and forced himself to watch the show, he eventually grasped a spoon and started eating it.

_ "Oh Monique, please don't leave me!"_

_ "I'm so sorry, Calculon... but you're just not my type."_

_ "What have I done to deserve this?!" He cried out. "I love you Monique, and I'd do every single thing in the world to make you love me!"_

"I can so relate to him..." Strangely, Fry began to choke with his own ice cream, and his eyes started to get wet. He truly hated chick flicks, but he couldn't hold his sadness anymore. "Oh, Leela, why can't you just give me a chance to-"

"Shut up Fry!" Bender yelled, hitting the wall of his small room. "I'm making out with a hooker!"

_ "But... I love Boxy... and we're thinking to get married this Saturday."_

_ "You're marrying Boxy?!" Calculon gasped. "That's it! I don't want to live on this planet anymore! I'm going to kill myself!"_

_ "No! Calculon-!"_

_ And he jumped into a waterfall and died of electrocution._

_ "Oh well." Monique said no more or less. "Life still goes on."_

"And Leela wouldn't even care if I died..." Fry cried even harder. "Maybe I should go to a suicide booth and-"

Someone opened the door in an abrupt, violent way. "What part of the 'shut up' thing didn't you understand?!" Bender shouted. "Or will you shut up for once or I'll throw you out the wind- Fry?!"

Fry suddenly turned his head at him, with his teary eyes wide open in surprise and the spoon still in his mouth.

"Dear mother of Robonia!" He gasped. "Philip J. Fry, are you crying in front of a chick flick?"

Embarrassed, Fry swallowed the ice cream, quickly wiped out his tears with his hand and removed the spoon from his mouth to put it back in the bottle.

"Yes." He nodded. "It's true. I'm crying in front of a chick flick."

"Wow, now that was low from you, buddy." Bender confessed.

"Just leave me alone, okay?" Fry cleaned his filthy nose, holding the bottle against his stomach. "I also have my moments..."

"Aww, I love how you look even more miserable." Bender said in a pitiful tone.

"I don't know what's wrong with me..." He placed the bottle next to him, and then put his hands supporting his chin. "I've been in this state for months. Maybe it's because I'm passing through menopause."

"Yeah, either that or you switched hormones with Leela." He half-closed his eyes due to lack of impression.

"It's no use, though. I could ask her out for a million of years, and she still would reject me." Fry softly sighed. "I better go to sleep."

"It was about time." Bender rolled his eyes, and turned his back to finally return to his room and continue what he was doing. But, right a second before he closed the door, Fry stopped him.

"Bender, wait!"

The robot sighed in annoyance. "What now, meatbag?"

"Promise me that you'll never, _ever_ tell the others that I cried while watching a chick flick." Fry begged, crossing his hands as he meant it with all of his being. "Please?"

For some reason, this interested Bender; now that he had a bright new secret to tell the crew, he couldn't resist but smirk mischievously to himself.

"Of course." He friendly smiled at him. "Your secret is well saved with me."

"Thank you, Bender." Fry smiled, at long last. "You are really a true friend."

"I know." He lied, and then he eventually closed the door. Since he was more well-disposed, Fry yawned, stretching his arms to prepare to sleep, this until he accidentally shoved the bottle full of ice cream to the floor.

"Aww, man..."

* * *

The next morning arrived, and everyone of the Planet Express was reunited at the conference table. As usual, the Professor was sitting in his seat, having some 'good' news to announce, but he couldn't since Fry hadn't arrived yet.

"Where in the name of Albert Einstein is Fry?" He asked, impatient. "We have been waiting for him since an half hour!"

"He probably must've fallen asleep in the bathroom, for sure." Bender sneered.

"Bender!" Leela frowned at him. "Fry isn't that stupid - although you might be right about that."

"Yeah, I agree." Amy said, despite that she was more focused on looking at her recent, pink-coloured fingernails.

"Professor, I think it's time to start speaking now." Hermes urged, folding his arms. "I have more important paperwork to do than waiting for some-"

"Sorry I'm late!" Fry exclaimed, running like a lunatic until the room as his hair was all messy and his red jacket not being dressed in one arm yet. "I overslept."

"Like usual." Bender added, reading a sensual magazine about fembots while his legs were placed above the table.

"You fool!" The Professor shouted, furious. "Do you even know the time we've been waiting for you?! I'm seriously starting to consider about firing you, but I just won't do it because Leela and Bender can't work together."

"I have to agree with the Professor, Fry." Leela nodded. "You just can't keep arriving at this hour."

"I'm sorry." He apologized again, pushing his chair backwards so that he could sit on his seat. "I couldn't sleep in the moment I arrived to my apartment. Plus, my ice cream spread all over the floor, so I took two hours to clean it."

"No wonder why my room smelled like vanilla and chocolate..." Bender recalled.

"Well, then be more careful next time!" The Professor ended his sermon. "And now that I have eventually finished what I needed to say in the last minute, you all are going to wash the spaceship."

Upset, everybody began to complain out loud, with their voices interfering each other in such a way that the Professor didn't even get into the work to understand them.

"Do I really have to?" Fry groaned.

"You mean 'we'." Leela corrected.

"Hey, Professor." Bender called the old scientist, loud and clear. "If you force me to wash the ship, I won't tell you a certain yet intriguing secret."

Out of a sudden, everyone in the conference room shut their mouths. A secret, he said? Seemed to be too pretty and valid enough to know and keep the silence.

"Intriguing, you say?" The Professor raised his eyebrows in total curiosity. "Why, yes, tell me."

"Scruffy wants to know, too." The janitor avowed.

Silence. As every head of the PE crew was staring at the bending robot like if he was some kind of god, the tension between the members were raising up to its maximum. Bender, of course, was becoming more anxious and anxious; he knew he wasn't going to do it for good intentions, but he just couldn't say no to those curious ears.

"Fry cried while watching a chick flick last night."

At first, everyone stood puzzled at what he just said; but eventually, they ended up dying in pure, unending laughter. Fry felt betrayed, considering that he was the only one who didn't find the joke that funny.

"Is that true, Fry?" Leela couldn't help but giggle. "I thought you hated chick flicks."

"Aww, isn't that _sweet_?" Amy teased, glancing at him with a cute expression on purpose.

Cubert, who also happened to stand near them, chuckled as well, pointing his finger at Fry. "Hah hah! We have a baby loser!"

"Oh my, this so-called secret is almost as gold as that one I came up with a portable toilet." The Professor laughed, wiping out a small tear which came out from his eye.

"Looks like we need to order tons of tissues and water so that he won't dehydrate." Hermes dryly sneered.

"That was a good one, Hermes!" The Professor joined him, patting his back so that he couldn't fall from laughter.

That was the last straw. Deeply tired of always being the center of mockery, Fry held his tears back, bluntly lifted up from the conference table and didn't even turn his eyes at his co-workers one last time, and ran as fast as he could until he finally reached the exit.

"What's wrong with him?" Amy shrugged, asking to the rest of the crew.

"Middle-age crisis." Bender answered no more or less.

Leela, on the other hand, became severely worried at his sudden response. "...Fry?"


	3. Tears And Rain

**Chapter 3**

His vision was blurry. Fry had no idea where he wanted to go; all he wanted was to run away from all of that insensitive, wronged teasing his 'supposed' friends did right in front of his face. Didn't he have enough? All of his life he was always proclaimed as a loser, a nobody, and people never gave him a chance to prove otherwise. He wanted to be someone else, but he always faced the sad, unmerciful truth that he hadn't anywhere in life he could belong to. What has he done to deserve this? Why everybody he thought they loved him as who he was, were in actually mean and fake people in disguise? Even his best friend? Did the so-called God, although he hoped or thought that 'He' never existed, hate him so much for no reason?

Fry kept running, his loud footsteps soaking his blue pants while passing through small puddles, as the sky started to gather clouds and more clouds. Little drops of rain began to land on his orange hair and crooked nose, as his adrenaline was slowly wasting away due to the abrupt physical effort. Eventually, Fry slowed down and started to walk normally on an unknown shortcut, as he put his hands again in his pockets and lowered his head below his shoulders due to his body getting colder by the rain. He hadn't a specific location to head to, but he urged himself to keep walking, even if it meant to go nowhere.

Nowhere...

_When they were still alive, his parents never really cared about him._

_ His brother hated him out of jealousy, no matter the times they spent together._

_ His ex-girlfriend dumped him right before New Year on purpose._

_ Her mother always found him as a complete loser._

_ They always told him that he was never going to be someone else._

Nowhere...

_That he wasn't going to change, no matter how old he would age._

_ That he wasn't going to achieve his dreams._

_ That he was going to be some sort of insignificant, clumsy delivery boy for the rest of his life..._

_ How they were so right._

Fry stopped. His thoughts about his past were driving him insane; all he wanted was to forget them, burn them from his mind as his spite towards them was too strong to ignore. This runaway thing was no help to him; as the memories from his previous life letdowns were saturating his being, Fry no longer seemed to mind the rain or his wet clothes, as his eyes were staring at the own ground with a stoned expression. His hands began to tremble by themselves, but he closed his fists fiercely so that he could handle the breakdown without making a scene.

Until...

He recalled someone.

_BANG!_

He couldn't take it anymore.

"Damn it, Leela!"

Loosing a scream, Fry hit his hand against the wall which was next to him, in such a brutal way that it even began to bleed. With his blood being washed away by the rain, and his knuckles injured, his hand became sore and swollen, but Fry did not care as long as his frustration started to disappear off him. Why was he doing this? He couldn't really find an answer, other than he needed a reason to do something impulsive to free his mind for a little bit. He knew he wasn't going to get something for hurting his own hand in return, but at least he demonstrated himself that he wasn't weak enough to not bear physical pain.

Moving his fingers repeatedly to let himself know that he was still alive, Fry gently kissed his aching hand, and eventually walked away to somewhere else.

* * *

"That was unforgivable!"

Leela shouted in utter anger, hitting her own hand against the table, with her single eye glaring at every head in the conference room. Everyone shut their lips in the second they heard her hand, slowly lowering their heads below their shoulders as Bender was the only one who got indifferent about the situation. The female captain, who was impatient enough to not tolerate any more funny jokes, frowned at the bending robot, her facial expression so severe that even Cubert got afraid of her.

"You all should be ashamed!" She continued to yell. "You guys had no reason to mock Fry like that!"

No one dared to open their mouths.

"And Bender," Leela turned her eye at him for the second time. "You should apologize to him for what you did. Telling the others' secrets doesn't make you into a better person."

"Why should I?" He defended, folding his robotic arms. "I watched him crying right in front of his TV. He was the one who told me to not tell the others."

"But that's what I mean!" She placed her hands on her hips. "Why did you tell us if he told you not to?"

"Funny, why did _you_ also laugh in the moment I finished saying it?"

Leela halted.

"What?"

"Isn't that obvious, darling?" Bender kept on explaining. "Everyone in this building saw you giggling after you heard Fry's secret. In fact, you were the first one to loose your tongue."

"Yeah Leela, you did it." Amy added. The rest of the crew also nodded in agreement, with Scruffy included.

"Y-Yeah," She slightly turned her head at them. "I must admit that I laughed a little, but you all started to laugh first!"

"Nice try, sister." Zoidberg sneered, folding his arms.

"Leela, I know you are competent and not an idiot like Fry, or Dr. Zoidberg for that matter." The Professor spoke, his expression being barely affected at all. "But I must agree with Bender. I think you were the one who made this situation go too far."

"Too _far_?" Leela found this offensive. "You guys tease about him all the time! Especially you, Bender."

"Yes, but you're the one who Fry has a crush on, so that argument is invalid." Hermes countered.

"Oh, I see it now." She sneered, folding her arms. "Whenever you don't want to face the consequences as they are, it's always Leela's fault."

"Kind of, yeah." Bender shrugged.

"Listen, I know I should haven't laughed at the fact that he cried during a chick flick, or the fact that I don't love him in the way he does to me, but that doesn't give you the right to say those kind of things to Fry." Leela added. "Plus, he's still a sensitive 38-year-old guy, so give him a break."

"He's 38?" Zoidberg widened his eyes in surprise, shaking his head. "And I thought all of this time that he was still a five-year-old kid... how the time flies so fast."

"A break?" Bender exclaimed in defense, again. "We are supposed to remark and do mean things to each other! It's no wonder why you don't understand anything about friendship."

"Friendship is not about telling each other's secrets, using your roommate to attract fembots or taking him to strip clubs, and definitely not to use his own hair as an ashtray." She avowed, scowling at the robot for smoking another cigar.

Bender groaned, folding his arms in defeat. "You suck."

"Still not my fault." Hermes insisted, and almost everybody nodded their heads in agreement.

Without a choice, Leela couldn't help but take a deep breath. It was everyone's fault for leading to this circumstance, but perhaps she was the one who made Fry leave the room in such a rough way. Having a tiny guilty feeling passing through her veins, Leela decided that it was time to take action.

"I'm going to find him." She said in a determinative voice, picking up her lime-green jacket which was placed above her chair. "It's raining like no tomorrow, and Fry is still wandering outside. I better bring him back to the building so that he doesn't catch a cold."

"Just don't delay too much." The Professor added with a serious tone. "We still have our beloved ship waiting to be wash-"

But she closed the door before she could even listen to the rest.

* * *

"Stupid Bender..." Fry grumbled, looking at his empty wallet. "I'm hungry as hell... and that idiot stole my money."

The red-haired delivery boy was still walking, with his hand redder and aching more than before. Once Fry forgot to eat breakfast due to the hurry he had to go through that morning, his stomach was unbearable, not even leaving him for a second without stomach pains. His breath also smelled terribly bad, and it wouldn't take long to faint due to having a skinny body.

"I need to find a place where they offer free food..." He remarked, holding his stomach with one arm. "Because if I keep walking with this empty stomach and my hand feeling like it was chopped in half, I'll end up anorexic like the Professor..."

Every person who walked past Fry glanced at him in wonder, since they thought that he was some kind of bummer or that he got in a fight with someone. Although Fry pretended that he didn't see them, he found it a bit offensive that people didn't even bother to ask what was wrong with him, or if he needed urgent help. Fry continued on walking and walking, and right in the moment he thought he was going to die from hunger, he discovered an animal clinic, which was precisely located at the corner of the street.

"An animal clinic, huh?" He raised his eyebrow. "That will help."

As soon as he headed towards the clinic, instead of walking until the entrance, Fry went to the back side of the building. Upon seeing some trash cans and a large window situated above them, the red-haired delivery boy got curious and decided to give a look at what was inside that window, and some instants after he did, his stomach called him back again to the reality.

"Free food!" Fry smiled. "Now I know what it's like being Dr. Zoidberg for a day..."

Thanks to his slim body, Fry put his feet upon a trash can and opened the window, passing through it and eventually falling into a private room. Despite that he accidentally fell with his head landed on the hard floor, Fry didn't even notice his headaches after he saw the amount of 'free' food; there were endless bags of animal food, some for cats, dogs and others for alien pets. Even though he wasn't accustomed on eating this type of food, Fry knew that his stomach would kill him first if he didn't eat anything whatsoever.

"Meh, what is the worst that can happen?" He shrugged, inquiring to himself. "I've already heard 31st century doctors saying that dog food is healthy, so I'm going to eat it anyway."

Incapable to bear his wolf hunger, Fry grasped a small knife from his pocket and cut the opening line of some bag with dog food, and started to eat it with his own hands. The hunger was such that even himself was enjoying it; Fry kept on eating and eating until he would finally fill every single hole of his stomach, but unfortunately, his joy wouldn't last very long...

"I'm going to bring some food bags from the storage, I'll be right ba-"

A woman halted after the automatic door had opened, completely agape. Fry halted as well, with his mouth utterly full and closed, staring at the own woman with a dumbfounded face; now that was the worst that could have happened.

"Is everything okay, Jane?" One of the woman's co-workers asked out loud, worried for a moment.

"Y-Yes, just keep working!" She shouted back. After the automatic door closed, Fry swallowed the entire food which was left in his mouth, and nervously cleaned his lips with his sore hand. The woman, who happened to be a professional veterinarian, was blonde, almost flat-chested, with her lips painted in pink like Leela, but with two eyes like any other normal person, even though her eye shape was rounder than most girls. Her hair was also extremely long, as Fry could tell that she had a red hair bow in the end of her ponytail.

"Sir, are you eating dog food?" Jane frowned, folding her arms.

"Huh..." Fry lost what he was going to say, turning his eyes at the bag twice. "...Yeah."

"How did you end up in here?"

"By the window."

"At least you _do_ realize that the food you're eating is already expired, don't you?"

"Expired?!" Fry shouted in nuisance, and he couldn't help but run to a corner so that he could throw up. Jane turned her eyesight away in disgust.

"Sorry about that." The red-haired delivery boy apologized, embarrassed at the situation. "I was awfully hungry, and since my best friend stole all the money from my wallet, I decided to go to this animal storage and eat something."

"I see." Jane said, no more or less. "Well, thanks for sharing your sad story and whatnot, but I'd be very appreciated if you clean your vomit and leave the clinic while I need to return to work."

"(She seems very strict and competent... like Leela.)" Fry thought, and he sighed in discouragement. Without an alternative choice, Fry picked up a mop that was leaning next to the wall, and began cleaning the mess he did. But right before the female vet could leave the storage to return to her office, she noticed Fry's sorrowful expression, and couldn't help but stay in the storage with him.

"What's your name?" Jane inquired, approaching him. Moments after he cleaned the spot, Fry eventually looked into her eyes for the first time, and the two sat on the floor.

"Philip J. Fry." He replied.

"I'm Jane. Jane Haddaway." She answered, offering a hand. "Nice to meet you, Philip."

"Just call me Fry." He accepted her handshake, but suddenly, he groaned in pain. Jane finally noticed his swollen hand by holding it.

"Dear mother of Jesus Christ!" She shouted, astounded. "What happened to your hand, Fry?"

"I..." He stopped, biting his lip in hesitation. "...I hit my hand against a wall."

"Were you out of your mind?" Jane began to scold. "You could've broken a bone or something."

"You don't know my reasons." Fry frowned in vexation, pulling his hand away from her.

"What reasons?" She frowned as well. "To break your hand out of random and make yourself look like a total idiot?"

"I am _not_ an idiot!" Fry yelled, his facial expression so angry that he even scared Jane for a moment. "I did _this_ because I am frustrated at my own shitty life, okay?" He turned his eyes away from her, trying to calm his nerves down by taking a long, deep breath. "And because... of a girl I really like."

His last sentence intrigued Jane, although she became worried instead.

"A girl?"

"Yeah." Fry nodded. "We have been friends for over thirteen years, and I've been asking her out ever since, but..." He bit his lip once more. "She never really gave me a chance. Not only that, but all of my co-workers laughed at my face this morning, including her... so I ran away without even knowing where I would end."

"I'm so sorry..." Jane apologized. "I didn't know about that. That must've been humiliating."

"A little, but that's all right. At least you care about someone as miserable as I am." Fry slightly smiled, but then he groaned in pain again. Jane lifted up from the floor, leaving the storage room so that she could pick up a first-aid kit from her office. As soon as she arrived back into the room, Jane removed an elastic bandage from the kit, and carefully placed it all around Fry's injured hand.

"There, your hand will be brand as new in the next few weeks." She smiled.

"Thanks, Jane." Fry smiled in return, even though he held his arm against his aching stomach. "But I'm still starving."

"Don't worry, you can have lunch at my house, since it's almost lunch break either way." Jane suggested. "But you will go back to your job afterwards, right?"

He wasn't certain; but to not leave her even more upset than she was, Fry decided to lie.

"Sure."

"All right." She turned her back to leave the storage. "Just wait here a few more minutes, okay? I'll be right back."

Fry nodded, and the female veterinarian finally left. As the red-haired delivery boy continued to sit on the floor with his knees close to his chest, completely alone in that somewhat murky private room, his hungry stomach stroke again, and his old inner thoughts began to haunt his mind once again...


	4. False Expectations

_**Author's Note: **Before any of you start reading this chapter, I want to make a few notes: first, I'm trying my hardest not to make Jane into a Mary-Sue. That's the very least thing we want to read, right? Plus, she'll only last until the first half of this story, and I'm not telling any more spoilers. Second, yes, this is a Fry/Leela fanfic, because I don't really support the Fry/Jane one, since she's only introduced for the sake of the storyline. Third, there may be OOC scenes, because again I'm not Matt Groening, even though I always try my best to write them in-character as possible. With my useless author's notes being finally written, enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 4**

It was some brave miles away from the animal clinic that Jane's house was situated. Fry, who happened to be still dying of hunger, was actually feeling better from his hand, as the elastic bandage which the woman gingerly placed did decrease the pain. After waiting a while, the red-haired delivery boy and the blonde female veterinarian went by hovercar, flying through the most busy streets of New New York so that they could arrive until her house as fast as possible before the lunch break could end. And, despite all efforts, they still took a little longer due to a certain accident that happened between a truck and a hearse...

In the minute they finally reached to their destination, Jane parked her hovercar behind her house, which was actually a regular medium-sized house located in some non-poor but also non-fancy neighborhood. As soon as they left the vehicle, Fry and Jane walked until the front door, but right before she could allow him to enter, she stopped.

"Fry, if I were you, I wouldn't move a muscle." She warned.

"Huh... may I ask why?" Fry, who was obviously naive, couldn't understand why she was saying something like that. Just until the second Jane eventually opened the door, Fry could swear that he automatically turned white as lime - as two Pitbulls were actually sitting right some centimetres away from the door, watching the delivery boy with a deadly eye contact in complete silence.

"N-Nice dogs..." He quietly, nervously swallowed. Both the Pitbulls started to growl upon hearing his voice, and boy, didn't those beautiful blue eyes almost give him another heart attack...

"They're very protective of their owner, therefore I was warning you to not make a scene." Jane added. "They hate sudden movements."

"A-At least you should've told me earlier that you had _those_ dogs..." Fry stuttered in fear. As he accidentally gave a step forward, one of the Pitbulls opened its mouth in a blink of an eye, and threatened to bite Fry right in the crotch with its incredible sharp teeth. He couldn't help but scream like a girl, and jump into Jane's arms as he almost broke her back.

"Are you crazy?!" The delivery boy kept yelling hysterically. "I don't want to get castrated just yet!"

"Shh!" Jane closed his mouth with her hand, ceasing his screams. "Shut up. The more you scream, the more the girls want to bite you."

"Wait... girls?"

"Isn't it obvious, you dummy?" Jane frowned. "They're females."

Fry looked at the dogs once again, hesitant. Both Pitbulls were almost identical, with their fur in black and white colours, but with their black eye and white eye inverted in sides from each other. Their ears were cropped while their tails were already natural, and their eyes were grayish, light blue coloured. Jane slowly dropped Fry to the ground, not because for his sake, but for the sake of her dogs.

"Fry, I present you my dogs, Stella and Lucy." She presented them, kneeling to the height of her Pitbulls so that she could rub their fur as an affectionate gesture. In return, they licked her cheeks. "A lot of people complain that these dogs are dangerous and should be banned, but that's all just crap in my opinion. They are only dangerous if their owners are careless and don't socialize them." Jane talked.

"I wouldn't blame them though," Fry spoke, stepping backwards. "One of your 'girls' was about to eat my ding dong..."

"Please, not even dead." Jane coldly sneered, but the red-haired delivery boy didn't find her joke that funny. "Just kidding, my dogs are socialized. They won't eat you, they were just warning you to stay away from their territory, but every dog does that naturally."

"Yeah, I noticed that." He added. "But still, I don't like those dogs very much..."

"Why? Are you a coward?"

"N-No!" Fry defended himself, frowning at the female vet. "I had an accident with one of those when I was a kid, and it wasn't pretty."

"But still, is it an excuse to not come in?" Jane raised her eyebrow. "As a professional veterinarian, I told you loud and clear that they're socialized."

"Sorry, but there's no way I'm going to pass through those dogs with crocodile teeth." Fry folded his arms, turning his back at her. "And I'm not coming in with them."

"Okay." Jane smiled, and after she ordered Stella and Lucy to come back inside, she held the knob of the front door. "It was nice to meet you, Philip J. Fry. Bye bye-"

"Wait!"

He stopped her by putting his fingers through the door, even though he was lucky to choose the other hand that wasn't injured. Fry bit his lip in pain by feeling his fingers getting crushed, and Jane looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"Please Jane, you can't leave me here." Fry pleaded. "You promised me you'd give me a free lunch, remember?"

She didn't speak a single word.

"I have nowhere to go. No money, no one to talk to without being mocked, no food in the fridge..." He kept on. "Just, please... have mercy."

Jane couldn't help but sigh. What could she do? She just couldn't leave such a starving man outside her house, much less something she actually promised.

"All right..." She changed her mind. "But only this time. I'm going to hold Stella and Lucy so that you can come in safely."

An honest smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you."

* * *

Leela was distressingly nervous. She looked for Fry everywhere she knew he would be at, and yet she had no luck in finding him. The longer the time flew by, the more it seemed like an eternity; just where in the hell did that red-haired guy go? Did some UFO come to Earth and took him by chance? Or did he merely decide to run until China due to his sudden rush he made in the conference room?

Leela shook her head. It wasn't time for silly thoughts, and there was no way of him to disappear out of nowhere. Luckily, the rain stopped, but it still wasn't enough to make Leela carefree of the situation. _She had to bring him back._

After an hour of endless search, Leela unwittingly returned to the Planet Express building. Everyone, who were apparently not very worried about Fry until the point of doing their usual activities like nothing happened, didn't even notice the anxious look on Leela's face. She was panting, probably from running to one side to another like if she was going to some candy shop, and entirely wet, once it only stopped raining about five minutes ago.

"Guys, we need to call the police." Leela almost shouted, afflicted. "I couldn't find Fry, and I searched for him through the entire city. We need to do something!"

"What's the fuzz about, Leela?" Amy asked naturally, reading some book about fashion while she was sitting in the table of the living room. "Fry is fine. He's just out there trying to relax his nerves."

"But he's gone since this morning, and it's almost 3 PM now." She added, taking a deep breath so that she could talk normally. "I'm just... having mixing feelings about this."

"Oh, you came back already?" The Professor, by chance, eventually returned from the hangar. "If you're here to wash the spaceship, forget it. I was the one who had to clean the most of it, and I'm not getting any younger, young lady." He complained out loud, placing a hand on his vulnerable back as it made a cracking sound.

"Well Professor," She decided to strike back, folding her arms in utter vexation. "While you were cleaning something as lifeless as the spaceship, I was actually searching for a certain human being who needs some recognization."

"Oh, you mean Fry?" He raised his eyebrows. "Just leave that man-child doing whatever he wants. Even if he had another heart attack, he'd have probably survived it like he did ten other times."

"What's wrong with you?" Leela couldn't help but frown. "You're all acting like if he never existed!"

"Of course we are." Bender spoke, doing the same thing he always did whenever he was in the living room. "It's the best way to not interfere something as important as work."

"Says the one who's sitting on the couch, drinking another beer and watching television." She narrowed her eye at him.

"Puh-lease, Leela." The bending robot rolled his eyes. "Stop being boring already. I understand your pain of not getting a decent man due to your huge beady eye, no need to be a parrot about it."

Although Leela was actually a quite calm individual, that last sentence of his somehow reached the deepest of her nerves; infuriated, Leela picked up a medium-sized trash can which was located next to the table where Amy was reading, and threw it all the way until it knocked Bender down like a deadly missile.

"Bite my shiny _hairless_ ass." She retorted, and then went away to try to calm herself down. Amy and the Professor stood agape towards her unusual yet violent response.

"Man, no wonder she has been on her period..." Bender painfully remarked, surprised.

* * *

At Jane's house, the red-haired delivery boy and the blonde female veterinarian were finishing eating. Despite of not accepting Fry very well at the beginning, Stella and Lucy allowed the delivery boy to enter and know the house, even though they still kept an eye on him. While both the Pitbulls were sitting behind them, Fry and Jane were eating spaghetti with meatballs - although Fry had to put a large amount of ketchup to fulfill his hungry needs -, until it was only thirty minutes left before going back to work. Without noticing the time, Jane was the first to finish her plate, and in the moment she picked up her dish to start washing it, Fry finished his third one.

"Was it good?" Jane insecurely asked, since she has been frequently accused of not being a good cook.

"Hmm... not bad." Fry honestly replied. "It wasn't bad at all."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But it was a bit salty." He added. "Either way, it was delicious."

"I'm glad." She finished the conversation with a weak smile. In the second she turned her back to wash her dish, Fry realized that she wasn't much of a talker; in fact, he even suspected that maybe she didn't know how to communicate with people she didn't know at all. But once he was feeling kind of lonely in that house, Fry attempted to speak with her for a little longer.

"So..." He coughed on purpose. "Are you from these sites?"

"Yeah." Jane answered, and turned her head at him. "Are you?"

"Yeah... well, actually, I'm from the 20th century." Fry added in the last minute. "I accidentally ended up in one of those so-called freezers when I fell for a phone call prank, on New Year's Eve in 1999. I guess it was in Applied Cryogenics... I can't really remember."

She widened her eyes in amazement.

"Wait a second; aren't _you_ the delivery boy who works at Planet Express?"

Fry stood surprised towards her sudden realization.

"Yes, I am... why?"

"You're the space guy!" Jane smiled. "I can't really believe I didn't recognize your face! I knew your name was kind of... déjà vu sounding."

"I didn't know I was so popular." Fry remarked, smiling.

"Actually, you are not. I only recognized you after I saw you on TV a few weeks ago." She avowed. "But still, man... who knew we would have met this way, huh? Although I must admit, I never saw a grown-up man eating dog food before."

"A lot of people tell me that I'm a kid inside a man's body, is that enough to clarify?" He shrugged.

"Without a doubt." She half-closed her eyes.

Silence. As Fry also achieved to the point of not having any more in mind to talk, the two adults awkwardly shut their mouths for some moments. Jane looked back for an instant to see if her dogs were hungry or something of sort, but they were still inert, sitting on the kitchen floor while staring at the red-haired delivery boy carefully. Suddenly, an orange and yellow fluffy cat jumped onto the table, and Fry became curious.

"Hey little one." He smiled, and as soon as he started to pet the small feline, the cat began to purr in afection. Jane stayed astounded at how her cat, who was a quite suspicious one, accepted Fry this fast.

"I see you like animals." She spoke. "He really likes you."

"'Course I do." He continued to pet the cat. "I don't have a reason why not. In fact, I even had my own dog back in the Stupid Ages."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. His name was Seymour Asses."

"Seymour... what?" Jane scowled at him. "Why would you name that to your dog?"

"Because of another phone call prank." Fry explained. "I used to work in a pizzeria back then, so I received lots of those."

"Hmph, no wonder you'd be such a great owner..." She sneered.

"Hey." Fry frowned. "I may not be smart or careful most of the times, but at least I cared for him... even when he's already dead since a thousand of years ago." Shortly after, he took a deep breath, discouraged. "Believe it or not, I'm actually missing those times... a little."

Sighing in turn, Jane leaned against the washbasin, and the orange and yellow haired cat went away.

"My parents and I came from the 20th century, too." Jane avowed. "We got frozen for a thousand of years because they couldn't pay the bills, so they decided that it was best to 'freeze their problems' and arrive to a distance future to start everything over... which eventually led us to New New York. Honestly, I hated the future the first time I saw it. I missed my old friends, my old home, the ordinary yet nostalgic mind of the 80's... and the futuristic environment seemed to be too radical and scary for my taste. But, once I hadn't another choice, I got used to it, even though I'm still going to miss my original time the older I grow up. It's kind of a messed up game."

"I know the feels." Fry said. "Everyone you knew back then is... well, pretty much dead now."

"I don't mind, though." She added. "They were mostly strangers anyway. However, I always used to think that I was the only one who had mixtures from both the 20th and 31st century... until I met you."

Fry looked at her, unsure what to say. Both already had something in common, but he didn't want to come too close to her.

"Of course, it could easily tell by your primitive clothes." She stroke again, and Fry couldn't help but narrow his eyes in regards to her insult. All of a sudden, Jane turned her head at the clock which was placed on the kitchen wall right above their noses, but she gasped after she finally realized that there was only fifteen minutes left.

"Dear mother of Satan, I'm late for work!" She shouted, and she rushed until her room to dress her blue veterinarian suit. Fry simply stayed sitting on the exact same chair, becoming absent-minded for some long moments while staring into the window, only noticing that the rain had already stopped ages ago.

"Hey Fry, you coming or not?" Jane impatiently urged, ready as she headed towards the entrance. "My promise is done, and don't even think about sleeping here."

It wasn't a bad idea, but Fry only scrapped it because the female Pitbulls would've probably take care of his sensitive area if he didn't go, so he lifted up from the chair without thinking twice and went straight to the female vet.

"Do you need a lift until Planet Express?" She asked. "I can take you there if you want."

"No, thanks." Fry slightly shook his head. "I'll walk on foot instead. You know, to burn calories and stuff..."

"If you say so." Jane shrugged, and eventually opened the door. After she closed it with her keys and the two walked until her hovercar, Fry stopped her just before she could get in the front seat.

"Hey, Jane. Can you... give me your phone number?" Fry asked, a bit hesitant. "Just in case I want to talk to you again."

"Well..." Jane softly bit her lip, thinking. "I normally don't give personal information to strangers, but I guess I can count on you as an exception. Here it is." She removed a piece of paper from the pocket of her jacket, and gave it to Fry. "Now if you excuse me, I really need to go."

As Fry gave a brief glance at the numbers written in the paper, Jane finally got the control of the steering wheel and waved goodbye, flying as fast as she could until the clinic. The red-haired delivery boy saved the paper into his jeans' pocket and sighed, uncertain towards the decision of returning to the PE building or returning to his apartment to avoid his co-workers' usual mockery. But, as an image of Leela suddenly appeared in his mind, Fry changed ideas, and decided to come back to Planet Express.

* * *

"For the love of Zombie Jesus, Leela, calm down!"

It was 5:35 PM, and as much as everyone wished for the Professor's voice to calm the female captain like some miracle megaphone, Leela was still anxious, walking in circles throughout the living room. She usually didn't make scenes like this, but she couldn't help but worry about the delivery boy, especially when it was something _she_ caused.

"What if he got ran over?" Leela inquired. "I'd be less worried if he was someone competent, but with that brain of his..."

"Need a surgeon?" Dr. Zoidberg suggested. "Why not Zoidberg?"

"Hell no." Bender countered, and the lobster doctor made his acquainted _Oh..._ interjection.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the entrance door in the lobby. As soon as a certain person eventually entered into the same room as they were, Leela halted out of surprise, and didn't hesitate to run until him. The rest of the crew sighed in relief.

"Fry! You came back!" Much to his amazement, Leela hugged him. "I was terribly worried about you. Are you okay?"

Fry couldn't help but smile. Did she finally wake up after all those years?

"I am, Leela."

"You sure aren't mad?" She asked, still feeling a bit guilty. "You know... for laughing at your face this morning."

"Oh, that?" Fry laughed. "That is the past. Of course I'm not mad at you."

"But I am." Bender folded his metallic arms while looking at him. "Because you made Leela go coconuts and throw me one of those pretty trash cans. You owe me that, buddy."

"You also owe me to clean the spaceship, Fry." The Professor angrily spoke. "Because next time, you won't even receive a salary. And don't even think to beg me with your puppy eyes." He put his hands on his skinny hips. "I will be in the Angry Dome, so don't bother me!" And he walked away.

Man, no wonder they missed him so much.

"The important thing is, I'm glad you're back, Fry." Leela smiled. "Now that you're finally here safe and sound, I'm going to focus on more important things."

The red-haired delivery boy's smile immediately faded, and right in the moment he wanted to tell her something, Leela turned her back to sit on the couch and watch television with Bender. Fry felt hurt; she didn't even ask where he has been or if he has been okay, other than to assure herself that he wasn't angry at her. In fact, she didn't even notice the injured hand he occasionally did for her, although it was already sealed and healing.

Disappointed with his fake, high hopes, Fry put his hands in his pockets and didn't even join Leela and Bender like he used to do, and discreetly headed towards the widow's walk without letting them know.


End file.
